Setup Access Token

  1. There are two repos involved - the target (that you want to update) and the upstream (where updates are coming from)
  2. If the upstream repo is private, it requires authentication to get data from it
  3. From an account with token creation rights on upstream repo, create a new PAT. Give it whatever permissions you see fit. (At least read from repos.)

    1. Click on profile at top right of screen and got to Settings

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    2. In Settings, scroll down to the Developer settings on the left panel of screen

      1. In Developer settings, go to Personal access tokens → Tokens (classic)

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      2. Click on the Generate new token button and choose Generate new token (classic)

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      3. Enter a Note, set Expiration and Select scopes. E.g.

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      4. Once done, click on Generate token button and copy the generated token

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    3. In the target repo - where your action workflow is running - open Settings → Secrets → Actions

      1. Click on New repository secret

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      2. Paste your PAT into the box.

      3. Name your token something clear -like MY_TOKEN_FOR_UPSTREAM_SYNC. Add secret.

Setup GitHub Action

  1. In the target repo, click on Actions and click on New workflow

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  2. Click on set up a workflow yourself

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  3. Name your workflow. E.g. sync-fork-with-upstream.yml

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  4. Configure your workflow. Sample workflow below:

    name: 'Sync Fork with Upstream'

on:
  schedule:
    - cron:  '0 0,5 * * 1-5'
		# cron: <https://crontab.guru/>
    # scheduled at 00:00, 05:00 (UTC) every Monday to Friday
    # scheduled at 08:00, 13:00 (SGT) every Monday to Friday

  workflow_dispatch:  # click the button on Github repo!

jobs:
  sync_latest_from_upstream:
    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
    name: Sync latest commits from upstream repo

    steps:
    # REQUIRED step
    # Step 1: run a standard checkout action, provided by github
    - name: Checkout target repo
      uses: actions/checkout@v2
      with:
        # optional: set the branch to checkout,
        # sync action checks out your 'target_sync_branch' anyway
        ref:  dev
        # REQUIRED if your upstream repo is private (see wiki)
        persist-credentials: false

    # REQUIRED step
    # Step 2: run the sync action
    - name: Sync upstream changes
      id: sync
      uses: aormsby/[email protected]
      with:
        target_sync_branch: dev
        # REQUIRED 'target_repo_token' exactly like this!
        target_repo_token: ${{ secrets.GITHUB_TOKEN }}
        upstream_sync_branch: dev
        upstream_sync_repo: Organization/UpstreamRepo
        upstream_repo_access_token: ${{ secrets.MY_TOKEN_FOR_UPSTREAM_SYNC }}

        # Set test_mode true to run tests instead of the true action!!
        test_mode: false
      
    # Step 3: Display a sample message based on the sync output var 'has_new_commits'
    - name: New commits found
      if: steps.sync.outputs.has_new_commits == 'true'
      run: echo "New commits were found to sync."
    
    - name: No new commits
      if: steps.sync.outputs.has_new_commits == 'false'
      run: echo "There were no new commits."
      
    - name: Show value of 'has_new_commits'
      run: echo ${{ steps.sync.outputs.has_new_commits }}

    NOTES:

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